Easy Chocolate Muffins Mary Berry Recipes

MARY BERRY'S CHRISTMAS CHOCOLATE CUPCAKES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160ºC (fan assisted, 180ºC non fan) and line a cupcake tin with 12 liners and set aside
• Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl and add the boiling water. Mix until it forms a thick paste and then add the remaining cake ingredients. Mix until combined
• Divide the mix between the cupcake liners. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes until a cocktail stick comes out clean
• Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes or so before allowing to cool completely on a wire rack
• When the cupcakes have cooled completely, make the buttercream. Beat the softened butter for a minute or so before adding the icing sugar
• Add half of the milk and beat until the buttercream is smooth. Add small amounts of food colouring until you have managed to create a tree-like green. If the buttercream is too stiff, add a touch more milk
• Spoon the buttercream into a piping bag with a star shaped tip. Starting at the edge of the cupcake, pipe round in a circle and then upwards to create the Christmas Tree look
• Add any decorations you like to make it look like a Christmas Tree

CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

Steps:

• preheat the oven to 200 c / 400 f / gas mark . line 12 muffin cases.
• Mix the flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Rub in the butter untill the mixture is like breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and the chocolate chips.
• In a separate bowl mix the eggs , milk and vanilla extract together , then pour the mixture all at once into the dry ingredients and mix briefly.
• Spoon the batter into the muffin cases and bake for 15-20 minutes or until risen , golden and firm to touch. cool in the tin for 10 minutes.
• after 10 minutes of cooling in the tin , transfer to a cooling rack or serve straight away.

MOIST CHOCOLATE MUFFINS

Steps:

• Prep: Preheat the oven to 425 F (220 C). Line a muffin tin with muffin liners or spray with nonstick spray.
• Mix Dry Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, cocoa powder, granulated sugar, baking powder, and salt.
• Mix the Wet Ingredients: In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg, milk, vanilla, and oil until well combined.
• Combine Wet & Dry Ingredients: Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir with a spoon or rubber spatula until just combined. This process will go quickly, and should only take about 10 stirs to complete. Fold in the chocolate chips at this point. Do not over-mix your batter or your muffins will be dense and dry.
• Divide the batter between the muffin cups filling them almost all the way up. Top with more chocolate chips if desired.
• Bake at 425 F for about 10 minutes and then turn the oven heat down to 350 F (175 C) for about 5 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with moist crumbs.

MARY BERRY'S BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4.
• Put flour in a large bowl, add baking powder and give it a good whisk. Alternatively you could sieve both into the bowl instead.
• Add butter or margarine and rub it into the flour with your fingers until the mixture resembles sand/breadcrumbs.
• Add caster (fine) sugar, grate the zest of one lemon and add fresh blueberries (see tips on baking with frozen blueberries in the notes below). Give it all a good mix.
• Prepare your wet ingredients by mixing eggs with milk and adding vanila extract (if using).
• Pour the wet ingredients into dry ones and mix in gently with silicone spatula until incorporated. Take care not to burst your blueberries. The muffin batter will be really wet, almost pancake batter like which is how it's supposed to be so don't panic. I find soup ladle really useful for pouring the batter onto the cases.
• Pour batter into the tin lined with muffin cases and bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until golden on top and spring back as you touch them.
• Take the muffins out of the oven and let them cool on the wire rack before serving.

MARY BERRY'S VANILLA CUPCAKE RECIPE WITH SWIRLY ICING

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cupcake or muffin cases.
• Put all the cake ingredients into a large bowl and beat with an electric hand whisk or a wooden spoon until smooth and evenly mixed. Divide the mixture evenly between the paper cases.
• Meanwhile, make the icing. Put the butter, vanilla extract, two tablespoons of the milk, and half the icing sugar in a large bowl and beat until smooth. Beat in the remaining icing sugar, and pour in the rest of the milk if needed to make the icing the right consistency.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the cakes are well risen and firm on top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• Put half of the icing into another bowl and colour it pale pink with the edible colouring (two tablespoons may be enough so add slowly). Carefully spoon this down one side of a piping bag fitted with a number eight star nozzle, then spoon the non-coloured icing down the other side of the bag. Twist the end of the bag to seal the icing in.
• Pipe swirls of the icing on top of each cupcake. Scatter with the edible pink hearts or other sprinkles, to decorate.

RECIPES

Steps:

• Step 1:Line a muffin tin with paper cases. Sift the cocoa powder into a bowl, pour in the boiling water and mix into a thick paste. Add the remaining cake ingredients and mix with an electric hand whisk (or beat with a wooden spoon).Step 2:Divide the mixture equally between the 12 paper cases. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C (400°F, Gas mark 6) for about 12-15 minutes until well risen and springy to the touch. Cool in the cases on a wire rack.How to produce even cupcakesStep 3:To make the chocolate icing melt the butter and pour it into a bowl. Sift in the cocoa powder and stir in the icing sugar a little at a time to make a glossy and spreadable. If the icing is too thick, gradually add the milk until it reaches the desired consistency. Pipe over the cupcakes, sprinkle with chocolate decorations and leave to set before serving.

MARY BERRY'S FAST CHEESY HERB MUFFINS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200˚c/ 180˚c Fan/Gas 6 and line the tin with muffin cases (see note). Measure the flour, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Mix the butter, egg and milk together in a jug. Add the cheese, basil and olives to the bowl of dry ingredients and mix well. Pour in the wet ingredients and gently stir everything together using a fork. Mix in the sun-dried tomato paste right at the end to give a rippled effect through the batter (see note). Divide the mixture between the cases and bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes, until well risen and lightly golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Serve warm or cold. Cook's notes: • If you can't find muffin cases, you could use cupcake cases; they are larger than fairy cake cases, but not quite as deep as muffin cases, so the mixture may stretch to a few extra muffins. • Gently swirl in the sun-dried tomato paste, without stirring it in completely, as this gives a lovely hit of tomato when you eat the muffin, as well as a nice rippled effect. Prepare Ahead: Best made and eaten on the day but will keep for 2 days in the fridge in an airtight container. Freeze: The muffins freeze well for up to a month. Defrost and warm through at a low heat in the oven to refresh.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

Steps:

• Measure the flour and baking powder, into a large mixing bowl. Toss everything together so the fruit is well coated in the flour. This should help stop it sink to the bottom of the muffin when it cooks.
• Measure the butter and chop it into small pieces. Then use your fingertips to rub the butter into your flour until your mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
• Weigh the sugar and blueberries and add them to your flour mixture.
• Toss everything together so the fruit is well coated in the flour. This should help stop it sink to the bottom of the muffin when it cooks.
• Measure the milk into a jug and add the eggs, one at time, beating well between each addition.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir everything together. Don't overmix at this point - it's ok if the mixture is a little lumpy, just make sure the flour is stirred in and not hiding at the bottom.
• Spoon the muffin mixture into the muffin tin, dividing it equally among the cases.
• Bake the muffins in the oven for 20-25 minutes. They're ready when they've risen, turned golden and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean.
• Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes. Remove the blueberry muffins from tin and put on a wire rack until they are totally cool.